WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Just one workout can send cancer-fighting substances surging through the blood, according to the findings published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.
A large study of more than 643,000 people, including over 8,000 with colorectal cancer (CRC) and tracked for 10 years, found that better cardiorespiratory fitness is linked to a lower risk of developing CRC. Notably, this benefit was seen in both men and women and across all races.
During the study, researchers focused on proteins called myokines, which are released by muscles during exercise.
'The results from the study show that both types of exercise really work to produce these anti-cancer myokines in breast cancer survivors,' said lead author Francesco Bettariga.
'The results from this study are excellent motivators to add exercise as standard care in the treatment of cancer.'
The team tested blood samples from participants before exercise, right after, and 30 minutes later. People in the resistance training group did exercises like chest presses, shoulder presses, leg presses, and lunges. Those in the high-intensity interval training group used equipment like stationary bikes, treadmills, and rowing machines.
Both types of workouts caused a temporary boost in three myokines - decorin, IL-6, and SPARC. In lab tests, these myokines slowed the growth of breast cancer tumors by up to 30 percent.
Surprisingly, even triple-negative breast cancer cells, which usually don't respond to hormone changes, were affected by these exercise-linked proteins.
'Our findings demonstrate that both resistance training and high-intensity interval training elicit acute changes in circulating myokines and reduced cancer cell growth, which may contribute to proposed biological pathways involved in cancer control,' the authors concluded.
'However, further research is needed to determine the long-term relevance of these responses for disease recurrence in breast cancer survivors.'
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